Massage apparatus



Jun 2, 1936- M. RUTTGER-PELL! MAS SAGE APPARATUS Filed. June 17, 1935 V va Law Patented June 2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 17, 1933, Serial No. 676,261 In Switzerland January 28, 1933 7 Claims.

My invention relates to a massage apparatus which serves mechanically to impart to one or more freely rotatable massage bodies, e. g. balls, circular and swinging movements in various combinations. While the said bodies are making these movements the apparatus may be shifted by hand.

An object of the invention is to provide a massage apparatus by means of which many various massage treatments can be performed mechanically and effectively without injury to the patient, to replace hand massage.

According to the invention, there is provided a massage apparatus comprising balls arranged to move in circles, wherein a rotary disc carrying the ball-holders can be held in such manner centrally that only the ball-holders execute a rotary movement.

According to a feature of the invention, the ball-holders are seated in rotary bushings having eccentric bores for the ball-holders, to which bushings is imparted a rotary motion which in turn imparts to the holders a circular movement.

Preferably, the pivot-pins of the ball-holders are firmly connected with levers which engage with a cam track and impart a swinging movement to the ball-holders. The shape of the cam track in the cam disc may determine the swinging movement of the ball-holders.

Conveniently, the ball-holders are axially displaceable in the bores of the rotary disc or the eccentric bushings, and the balls may be exchangeably held in their holders by means which is detachable from the latter.

According to another feature of the invention, the central shaft may have a bore for the supply of a lubricant which can be supplied to the bearings of the ball-holders.

It may be arranged that by loosening and releasing the central shaft the ball-holders together with the rotary disc can rotate about a central toothed wheel.

To fix the central shaft, it may be clamped to a bushing fixed in the apparatus.

The drive of the apparatus may be effected by a worm which meshes with two worm gears, on the axles of one of which is a spur gear which imparts movement to a gear wheel in the middle of the apparatus.

Two embodiments of the invention are diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing one form of massage apparatusaccording to the invention,

Figure 2 is a central transverse sectional elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a front elevation showing part of a second form of apparatus according to the invention,

Figure 4 is a central transverse sectional elevation thereof,

Figs. 5 and 6 are views of details of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4.

The apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a cylindrical casing l containing a wheelshaped frame 2 formed with a lateral projecting hollow boss 3 wherein is journalled a driving shaft 4 and a handle member is received. Fixed in a central boss 5 of the frame 2 is a bushing 6, in which is journaled a hollow shaft 1, enclosing a shaft 8 of a rotary disc 9. The shaft 8 extends through the members 6 and 1 and has on its outer end a screw-thread carrying a nut I l locked by a screw I2.

The rotary disc 9 has any desired number of bores l3, of which five are provided in the example, each containing a ball-holder l4 journaled therein. These ball-holders l4 have at their outer end an enlarged portion I5 having a hemispherical recess for receiving a rotatable ball l6 retained in position by a cap-screw or like retaining device. After removing the cap-screw, the ball can be removed from the holder, cleaned and replaced, or exchanged for another one. The head of the holder is displaced slightly away from the middle of its pivot-pin ll, so that as the holder rotates, the center of the ball will describe a small circle about the pivot l1,

On the inner end of the pivot-pin I! there is fixed a planet pinion l8 secured in position. by a screw l9. This pinion meshes with and is rotated by a sun-wheel in the form of a spur gear 20. The pin I! is longer than the bore in the disc 9 into which it is placed so that it can shift axially therein. A coil spring 2| surrounding the pin l1 tends to shift the ball-holder I4 with its ball I6 to the right as viewed in Figure 2, so that the balls and their holders can adapt themselves 45 to a predetermined extent to unevennesses of the surfaces being massaged.

Each ball-holder may have a collar 22 concentric with its pivot-pin IT, on which the eccentric head l5 of the holder is seated. This permits the use of a cover plate 23 which makes a tight joint with the collars and closes the casing I at its front end. At the rear end the casing is closed 23 a cover plate 3|;

The hollow shaft 1 carries on its end near the disc 9 the sun-wheel or spur gear 20 aforesaid, and it also carries a spur gear 24 with which meshes a pinion 25. The latter is fast on the hub of one of the worm wheels 21 carried by pins 26 fast in the wheel-shaped frame 2. Meshing with the two worm gears 21 only one of which is shown in the drawing is a worm 28 which is fast on the driving shaft 4 rotatable in the bushings 30 in the lateral boss 3 and adapted to be driven in any convenient manner.

According to the kind of massage desired, the apparatus is used either with the ball-holders rotating each only about its own axis, or with the ball-holders thus rotating and also at the same time revolving about the central longitudinal axis of the shaft 8. For performing the first kind of massage the rotary disc 9 must be fixed. For this purpose, the nut II on the shaft 8 is tightened so that the shaft 8 with a ring 32 secured thereto is moved inwards toward the left in Fig. 2 into firm engagement with the inner end of the bushing B which is fast in the frame 2, whilst the nut H presses against the outer end of said bushing with the result that the two parts are clamped together and the shaft 8 and disc 9 are thereby held against rotation. The ball-holders l4 then execute only a rotary movement each about its own axis, while the apparatus is shifted about manually.

When the nut H is released, the disc 9 can rotate freely together with the shaft I more or less rapidly depending on the pressure exerted on the disc. In addition to the rotary movement of the various ball-holders l4, there is the revolving movement about the longitudinal axis of the apparatus, as well as the manual displacement of the apparatus.

The shaft 8 has a narrow axial bore 33 which permits a lubricant to be supplied from the outside to the hollow shaft 1 and through it to the bushing 6. The bore 33 may be continued further by a lateral duct 34 lying at right angles to it, so that lubricant can also be supplied to the bearings of the ball-holders.

As shown in Figures 3 to 6, the modified construction comprises a casing l in which is also arranged a wheel-shaped frame 2 having abearing 5. To the frame 2 is secured a spider 35 having a second bearing 5a for the hollow shaft 1. In this second bearing is fixed a bushing 6 which with the bearing 5 serves for journaling the shaft 1. Fast on the shaft 1 are mounted a bevel gear wheel 36, with which a pinion 31 on the driving shaft 4 meshes, and a sun-wheel in the form of a spur gear 38. The shaft 8 is journaled in the hollow shaft 1, and carries at its right hand end as viewed in Figure 4 the disc 9 having bores [3 for ball-holders 4| arranged in a circle concentric with the shaft 8.

In the bores I 3 in the disc 9 there are bushings 39 which have each an eccentric bore 49, in each of which a ball-holder 4| is rotatably disposed. The ball-holders have each a head with a hemispherical recess to receive a ball which is retained in position by a threaded collar 42. On the inner end 43 of each ball-holder is secured a lever 44, whereof the free end 45 engages in a cam groove 46 of a face cam 4! fast on the frame 2, which levers 44 impart to the ballholders 4! oscillatory movements when the disc 9 rotates about the longitudinal axis of the shaft 8.

The bushings 39 carry on their outer ends collars 48 which make a sliding tight-joint with a cover plate 49, thereby enclosing the gearing dust-tight. At the inner end of each bushing 39 is fixed a planet pinion 59 which meshes with the spur gear 38 and imparts its movement to the allotted bush. The apparatus is closed on the rear by the cover plate 3| so that the gearing is protected from dust and the like.

In this construction also various movements of the massage balls l6 can be produced depending on whether the central disc 9 is held against rotation or allowed to rotate. A central fixing means for the shaft 8 is provided similar to that described above with reference to Figures 1 and 2. When the disc 9 is held against rotation, the central gear wheel 38 rotates only the pinions 50 and thereby the bushings 39. When the disc 9 is released it also rotates, whilst the bushings 39 are rotated and the ball-holders are oscillated by the cam groove 46 and levers 44.

The massage apparatus may be driven in any convenient manner, as by means of worm spur, helical, bevel or like gearing; for example, an electric motor may drive a flexible shaft which can be connected with and disconnected from the driving shaft 4 of the apparatus in known manner.

Any metal may be used for the massage apparatus. The halls may consist of steel, ivory, artificial resin or the like. For the handle member of the apparatus ebonite or artificial resin is preferably used.

I claim:

1. A massage device comprising a frame, a shaft rotatably mounted in said frame, a sun gear, means for driving said gun gear, a plurality of rotatable massage element holders carried by said shaft, a planet gear on each holder meshing with said sun gear, means whereby axial displacement of said shaft relative to said frame secures said shaft against rotation, and means for axially displacing said shaft.

2. A massage device comprising a frame having a shouldered bearing, a shaft rotatably journaled in said bearing and having a shoulder to be urged against the shoulder of said bearing by axial displacement of the shaft thereby to secure the shaft against rotation, means for axially displacing said shaft, a plurality of rotatable massage element holders carried by said shaft, a planet gear on each holder, a sun gear with which said planet gears mesh, and means to drive said sun gear.

3. A massage device as set forth in claim 2 in which the means for axially displacing the shaft comprises a nut threaded on the shaft against the bearing.

4. A massage device comprising a sun gear, means for driving said sun gear, a rotatable disk coaxial with said sun gear, a plurality of bushings rotatably mounted in said disk with their axes parallel to and equidistantly spaced from the axis of said sun gear, a pinion on each bushing meshing with said sun gear, each bushing having an eccentric bore, a massage element carrying shaft journaled in the bore of each bushing, a fixed cam, and an arm on each massage element carrying shaft engaging said cam whereby said massage element carrying shafts are ro tated within their bushings by rotation of the disk relative to the cam.

5. A massage device as set forth in claim 4 including means for releasably securing the disk against rotation.

6. A massage device comprising a frame, a 7

shaft rotatably mounted in said frame, a disk carried by said shaft, a plurality of shafts rotatably mounted in said disk with their axes parallel to and equidistantly spaced from the axis of said first mentioned shaft, a planet gear on each of said plurality of shafts, a sun gear coaxial with said first mentioned shaft and meshing with said planet gears, means for driving said sun gear, each of said plurality of shafts being mounted in said disk for longitudinal movement relative thereto, a massaging element on the outer end of each of said plurality of shafts, and means yieldably resisting inward movement of each of said plurality of shafts.

'7. A massage device comprising a rotatable disk, a plurality of bushings rotatably mounted in said disk with their axes parallel to and equally spaced from the axis of rotation of said disk,

a shaft eccentrically journaled in each bushing, a planet gear on each bushing, a sun gear coaxial with said disk and meshing with said planet gears, means for driving said sun gear, and means whereby rotation of said disk effects rotation of the shafts journaled in said bushings 10 about their own axes.

MARIA RiiTrGER-PELLI. 

